neilestrick

I started running again! I'm trying to get out every day, but the weather isn't always cooperating. Today it's 43 degrees with 20mph winds, so I think it'll be a rest day.

I started running again! I'm trying to get out every day, but the weather isn't always cooperating. Today it's 43 degrees with 20mph winds, so I think it'll be a rest day.

You can put oatmeal in milk or water overnight in the fridge and then just microwave til it's warm.  It soaks up the water overnight and works well.  Kinda like soaking beans but not as involved

We have been playing with a bit of breakfast of late, as we usually have not cooked breakfast since retiring. My wife and I would go to a Mom and Pop, drink coffee read our books and get breakfast served. Oh well, new time of late. So we started fixing egg beaters or egg whites in the microwave, there is a company out there that makes a breakfast kit including a plastic bowl, some fixings(cheese, veggies, meats) with instructions on how to fix it. Hmmm only took one time for us to realize we can do the same so much better. This was today's breakfast for me, 1/2 cup of egg beaters=two eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic, onion and green pepper, a pinch of cheese. 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave, take out  fork stir, and then 1 minute more. Perfect, really fluffy eggs. I am working on the same thing with oatmeal, but still haven't figured out the perfect bowl for boil over. 
 
 

 
best,
Pres

I used to make French butter dishes, and they are a royal pain for the first few. A regular pain once you get used to them. I found that due to the amount of work I put into them (it's like making two pots), and having to fire them separately (again, like making two pots), I had to charge a little more than most people wanted to pay. Personally, I don't think the water is necessary, as you can leave butter sit out for a really long time before it goes bad. Plus the water drips on the table/counter when you open it up, and it's hard to remember to change the water, and the water is more likely to breed bad stuff than the butter.

I used to make French butter dishes, and they are a royal pain for the first few. A regular pain once you get used to them. I found that due to the amount of work I put into them (it's like making two pots), and having to fire them separately (again, like making two pots), I had to charge a little more than most people wanted to pay. Personally, I don't think the water is necessary, as you can leave butter sit out for a really long time before it goes bad. Plus the water drips on the table/counter when you open it up, and it's hard to remember to change the water, and the water is more likely to breed bad stuff than the butter.

We were quickly running out of yeast and unable to find any at a decent price.  I think the yeast on E-bay is about the same price as gold per ounce.  I noticed some San Francisco starter for sale,  my husband isn't crazy about sour dough,  I decided to do a little research.   I found a starter made with boiled potato water,  flour and a package of yeast.  I have made three loaves,  my next loaf I am adding some apple cider vinegar to it to create more bubbles in the loaf.  I am glad I hung onto my bread machine,  I bought it at a estate sale for ten dollars.   I hardly ever used it and was thinking of giving it away.  Denice

made hot croos buns and big pot of bean soup...winter coming here, and tjis a.m. inspired by Min, hummous.
So lunch will be hummous, home made flat bread, and greens from my garden.
Pots mine

I haven't been on the forum for awhile - trying my hand at hand building. Fear (& I hope not loathing) after I fire these things! Its a lamp, drying upside down & its bigger than the ones I throw on the wheel.

Illinois lockdown has been extended to April 30. Tomorrow I get to play teacher as my kids start their e-learning. So far their school has been really good about keeping us informed about everything. Luckily they had a pretty tech-savvy curriculum already. Both kids have Chromebooks and they use Google classroom for a lot of their assignment tracking.

Also did some cooking for lunch, instead of the constant snacking today. Today has been a good energy day, so I am making hay while the sun shines. 
This is Tom Kha, or coconut lemongrass soup. There is no link to the recipe I use, because I got it off a cooking show years ago, but the link here is similar. I make a green curry paste with a whole bunch of cilantro, the ginger, garlic, onion, hot pepper and lime, but the jarred stuff works just fine. I used enoki mushrooms, because they were super cheap and they’re like extra noodles. I put some fish in, but you can use thinly sliced chicken, or big shrimp (heh) when they’re in season. 
https://www.daringgourmet.com/tom-kha-gai/

Bit of a late breakfast. Mixed a tablespoon of hummus into some canned tomatoes, salt and pepper, a shot of hot sauce and some fresh herbs.  Simmer for about 10 minutes and then poach an egg in it. Serve with toast to dip in the yolk. Cheese toast shown, but any will do. 
These bowls are my go-to. I made them a couple of years ago and tried to make more for the public, but they weren’t as popular as I thought they’d be. 

Made two lots of jam yesterday.  Tayberry and gooseberry, both the last of last years crop, frozen on day of picking.  It's much nicer making jam in the winter, not in the heat of summer!

My day to bake bread. Old school long fermentation but not sourdough. I'm trying to make my yeast last as long as possible, all the stores here are sold out. Will have to start some sourdough starter.
Bowl is about 15 years old, it's a second. I had left it as bisque for quite a while, outside kiln area, and when I went to glaze it there was a small mud wasp nest inside it. Got rid of the wasp nest and I thought I had it cleaned well enough but I guess not, there was iron in the mud the nest was made from. Little bit of straw coloured glaze inside the bottom of the bowl. 

@LeeU if you take the same pan roasted cherry tomatoes, they’re pretty tasty on hash browns too. Or it would indeed be amazing with sourdough! 
Cut tomatoes in half, a couple of tablespoons of oil in a hot pan, clove of garlic and herbs. Fresh if you have, dried if you don’t. Comes together in about ten minutes and they get all sweet. 

@Min-the bears are coming out of hibernation-it is not good (for them or us) that they are coming down from the ridge into "civilization", so I need to be more vigilant about not leaving tempting treats out at night! All this baking looks yummy! I'm doing a Plant Paradox food plan (which has cut my blood sugar way, way down!) The only bread I eat, and minimally at that, is genuine sourdough--@Neil, yours is beyond luscious looking!  @Callie-I no longer eat pasta at all---but I am coveting your gorgeous meal! @Oldlady-ya just hadda show the bacon, huh? @Mea-ooooo-pie! @Roberta12-have you no mercy? Now all I need is for someone to shove a really great potato dish under my nose, and my goose is cooked.  But I don't eat goose, so maybe I'm gonna be OK and will survive this thread without having a nutritional relapse! 

There are several good apps for checking out digital books from your library. I use Overdrive and Hoopla. Find the apps in the Amazon app store on your Kindle and download them. Overdrive has an app called Libby that can be used on other devices like Android and Apple, but for somer reason they don't have it for Kindle devices, so you have to use the old Overdrive app, which isn't nearly as friendly but still functional. You'll need your library card number to create an account in either app. Sometimes you'll need a PIN for your account, and with my library that's the last 4 digits of your phone number. Once you're set up you can borrow books to your Kindle. With Overdrive, there is a limited number of copies of each book available, just like real books, so you can be put a hold on it just like real books. With Hoopla the books are always available, although they don't have as big a selection as Overdrive.

These are the only bears we get around here. Rarely do I find them rummaging around outside my house.
 

With everyone stuck in their homes, people are spending a lot of time in the kitchen. We thought it would be fun to share what we've been cooking, and the pots that are part of the process. Please share the culinary delights you've been creating during lockdown, and the recipe!
I'll go first: I've been making sourdough bread for quite a while, but have only just become confident and competent with it in the last couple of years, thanks to Instagram and Youtube, and the wealth of information that has been shared. I make a loaf almost every week on Sunday or Monday (my days off), that I mostly use for sandwiches and panini, and on Sunday mornings I make French toast with the week old leftovers.
The loaf pictured below I just made yesterday, and it's one of the best I've ever done. I used 550 grams of flour (30% whole wheat and 70% organic white flour), 10g sea salt, 72% hydration, and 100g of 50/50 starter. I only use whole wheat in my starter. I cook my bread in a cast iron Dutch oven, preheated for 45 minutes at 450F before putting the bread in. The first 20 minutes of the bake are with the lid on, then I drop the temp to 430F until it's done, about 25 minutes more.
Most of the sourdough breads you see on Instagram are high hydration (80% or more) and have a really open crumb, which makes for great photos. But it's terrible for sandwiches because the mayo or butter or Italian dressing or whatever you like to put on your sandwich tends to go right through and get all over your hands. At lower hydration I get a tighter crumb that's still light and soft, but closed enough to make a decent sandwich.
The bowl I use to mix my bread dough is a cone 10 reduction porcelain bowl I made about 12 years ago. It has a  water etched swirl pattern and a true celadon glaze- reduced iron, not a green stain. It's slightly flawed, like many of my pots that I've kept for my own use, with a small hole in the wall from an impurity that burned out of the clay. It's a good sized bowl, big enough to be used as a popcorn bowl, and probably bigger than I need for making bread, but it's nice to have the extra space when mixing.
 
 
 

This is how my family does snow.
 

This is how my family does snow.
 

With everyone stuck in their homes, people are spending a lot of time in the kitchen. We thought it would be fun to share what we've been cooking, and the pots that are part of the process. Please share the culinary delights you've been creating during lockdown, and the recipe!
I'll go first: I've been making sourdough bread for quite a while, but have only just become confident and competent with it in the last couple of years, thanks to Instagram and Youtube, and the wealth of information that has been shared. I make a loaf almost every week on Sunday or Monday (my days off), that I mostly use for sandwiches and panini, and on Sunday mornings I make French toast with the week old leftovers.
The loaf pictured below I just made yesterday, and it's one of the best I've ever done. I used 550 grams of flour (30% whole wheat and 70% organic white flour), 10g sea salt, 72% hydration, and 100g of 50/50 starter. I only use whole wheat in my starter. I cook my bread in a cast iron Dutch oven, preheated for 45 minutes at 450F before putting the bread in. The first 20 minutes of the bake are with the lid on, then I drop the temp to 430F until it's done, about 25 minutes more.
Most of the sourdough breads you see on Instagram are high hydration (80% or more) and have a really open crumb, which makes for great photos. But it's terrible for sandwiches because the mayo or butter or Italian dressing or whatever you like to put on your sandwich tends to go right through and get all over your hands. At lower hydration I get a tighter crumb that's still light and soft, but closed enough to make a decent sandwich.
The bowl I use to mix my bread dough is a cone 10 reduction porcelain bowl I made about 12 years ago. It has a  water etched swirl pattern and a true celadon glaze- reduced iron, not a green stain. It's slightly flawed, like many of my pots that I've kept for my own use, with a small hole in the wall from an impurity that burned out of the clay. It's a good sized bowl, big enough to be used as a popcorn bowl, and probably bigger than I need for making bread, but it's nice to have the extra space when mixing.
 
 
 

not today but you reminded me of a breakfast in september in harpers ferry back in 2017.    my pieces plus a cream and sugar by del martin, a mug by seth cardew, and a thin waisted cup by john glick.   i made the square at a workshop with ellen currans in oregon.  marvelous time there.
the bacon looks excessive but it is paper thin and i microwave it on paper towels to take out the fat.   

I don't have a kitchen table. Just a counter in a galley-type space.  So, I was taking a break from prepping freezer foods "for the duration" and came to read the CAD forums---saw this topic. Went back to the kitchen and took a pic of the reduced produce bananas I scored today--62 cents for 6 good ones--that I am cutting into chunks to freeze and at some point thaw for going into yogurt or cover with melted dark chocolate.  Then I hear a racket outside.  Oh-it's you again! This bear has been visiting me for 4 years now,  1 of 3 baby cubs, when big mama used to come too.  I forgot that it's now time to bring in the feeders and suet holder. 

No bears in the city, however quiet it is! Lotsa jackrabbits though. And coyotes. 
Tonight, no one was particularly hungry because we’re not really active. Dinner was just pasta with a good olive oil, a big garlic clove, about a pound of pan roasted cherry tomatoes and some parm.  I did the pots.